It is well known from, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,453; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0225143 and Japanese Patent Publication 1275231 to provide a motor vehicle with a split rear folding seat. The split rear folding seat generally includes two seat cushions and two backrests. Each of the backrests is hingedly connected to its respective seat cushion and the backrests are foldable from a substantially upright position, in which they form a front wall of a luggage compartment of the motor vehicle, to a stowed position. When the backrests are in the substantially upright position the two seats forming the split rear folding seat provide seating for two or three passengers and, when the backrests are in the stowed position, increased luggage capacity is provided, but no seating is available.
It is also known from, for example, German Patent Publication 102010024506 to provide a rigid luggage compartment cover that extends across substantially the entire width of the luggage compartment. It is generally a problem with such an arrangement that, if the split rear folding seat is arranged with the backrests in the stowed position, then, in order to maximize stowage capacity or provide access to the enlarged luggage compartment, it is necessary to remove the rigid luggage compartment cover. This operation is often difficult to achieve and leaves the user with the problem of where to store the removed rigid luggage compartment cover.
It is further known from, for example, German Patent Publication 102009037391 to provide a flexible luggage compartment cover that extends across substantially the entire width of the luggage compartment. The flexible luggage compartment cover includes a roller upon which a flexible material is rolled to stow the luggage cover. It is a problem with such an arrangement that if the split rear folding seat is arranged with the backrests in the stowed position then in order to provide access to the enlarged luggage compartment it is often necessary to remove the stowed flexible luggage compartment cover. This operation is often difficult to achieve and leaves the user with the problem of where to store the removed flexible luggage compartment cover.
In an attempt to solve this problem it is known from FR 2714342 A to provide a split folding seat with two flexible luggage compartment covers, one for each seat. It is a problem with the arrangement shown in FR 2714342 A that when a backrest of the split folding seat is folded down a discontinuous load surface is produced due to the presence of the housing for the flexible luggage compartment cover.
It is therefore desirable to provide a luggage compartment cover arrangement that overcomes the problems associated with the conventional assemblies.